The crafty nature of Duels and Games (DAG) House residents is apparent upon entering their new space. In the living room, decorated foam swords line the walls, door decs with each resident’s “DAG name” adorn each bedroom, and the basement, now deemed the “armory,” accommodates all of the club’s weapons, shields and building materials.
Rules of the house are standard, including information on managing various spaces around the house such as the kitchen, laundry room and armory, formerly housed in Langan pit. The door decs on each double’s door are remnants of Field Day which, according to DAG House Coordinator Boston Gunderson `26, is “a fun little tradition” that occurs annually in the spring. Those who “have gone to DAG for a while or have been around the DAG community and still don’t have DAG names, who we call ‘Daglings’ … finally get their DAG name,” Gunderson said. This name is often something that represents their personality, she added. Gunderson’s DAG name is “Philly.”
DAG club and its house are inclusive to all, especially for those who wish to become further involved with the Grinnell community. According to Gunderson, DAG house is close-knit, noting that a large portion of the residents attended a nearby Renaissance Fair together in August. Although all nine residents are heavily involved in the DAG club on campus, non-DAG members are not discouraged to apply.
“You don’t have to be a member of DAG, you just have to be interested in the community that DAG is,” said Gunderson.
This community is about more than just fighting. “I don’t want to call it a misconception about DAG, but I think it’s just an outside perspective that it seems like all we do is whack each other with foam swords, fight each other with foam swords and shields and whatnot, which is fine,” she added. “We do a little bit more than that,” consisting of community dinners and attending events.
For now, the house will begin its weekly Sunday tradition of “Community Build Sessions.”
These sessions will be open to the wider public and will consist of crafting and repairing foam weapons and shields, as well as utilizing sewing machines to create garbs, which are costumes consisting of upper and lower clothing along with shoes according to the Dagorhir Battle Games website.
According to Gunderson, they will be held from 1 p.m. until the Quartermaster decides it is dinner time, typically around 5 p.m.
Gunderson described the space as “a nice, stable spot for a lot of social events which [DAG] has historically lacked. She said she hopes to utilize the space as the semester continues.
“I may be reading into this too much, but I think for a lot of people, [DAG] is a big social group for them that they don’t get to see that often.”
She added that “it was kind of perfect to be a community that lives together because generally I have seen almost everyone in this house get along just fine with each other … Really a big benefit for the people in this house is they don’t only get to see this community a couple times a week.”
Internal house events will include a potential Renaissance Fair for the residents. Gunderson said that another resident told her they are looking forward to producing an event combining both DAG and drag.
Those looking to get involved with this living community can apply to DAG House in the spring.
The housing application will consist of demonstrating house interest and an interview with the house coordinator.
DAG club plays on MacEachron Field from 7 to 8 p.m. on Tuesdays and 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Fridays, with a team dinner occurring every Friday in the Dining Hall.
